Coffee farming getting popular in Gulmi

By Our Correspondent

Tansen, Feb. 4: As the demand of coffee produced in Gulmi increased in Japan and other countries, the farmers of the district are more attracted towards the cultivation of coffee. According to Parshuram Acharya, the managing director at the District Cooperative Federation, the district of Gulmi annually produces and refines locally about 12 tons of coffee.

The coffee is sold at the market of Palpa, Tamghas and Rupendhi and about seven tons of coffees are exported to the Japan per year, which provides formers of Gulmi about two million rupees annually. Acharya said that the Gulmeli coffee was also in the demand from other country like Thailand, German, and Denmark.

Citing the reason behind the increase in the demand of Gulmeli coffee in foreign countries, Raghupati Chaudhari, head of the Tea and Coffee Development Board (CTDB) at Palpa, said the coffee produced abroad was relatively impure due to the use of chemical which may prove problems for the health. "The Nepalese coffee are hundred per cent pure," Chaudahri said.

After the installation of a coffee refining machine at Johang in 1997, the farmers here have increased the production of the coffee as cash crop, a local farmer Udhav Giri said.

Hari Prasad Gautam, The President of Cooperative Federation, said after the increase in the demand of the local coffee from abroad. Because of the positive, the government provided Rs 1.5 million to install a modern high quality machine cost about Rs. 3.5 million. The new machine help refine about 20 kilograms of coffee per hour. The people from the Dhanpati, Johang, Hasera, and Digam including 26 other villages of the district are involved in the coffee production as their full time profession.

Managing Director Acharya said that the cherry coffee produced from other districts would be bought and refined here in Gulmi. "We have given rupees 110 for per kilogram of cherry coffee though the government rate for it is Rs. 90 per kilograms."

The main problems the coffee farmers face while cultivating coffee is the shortage of technical experts and ways and means to control disease that damage the coffee often.

Although each local farmer earn about Rs. 50 thousand per year from the coffee farming, but the farmers are facing problem as there is no national policy on coffee production. Moreover, the government-run regional office, CTDB, based at Palpa, has problems in functioning due to the lack of budget.